Chapter 1
Shushan, Jewish Quarter
As he made his way to the House of Jair on this moonless night, the king, accompanied only by his most trusted palace advisor, Tarshish, thought to himself how he longed to dispense with this chicanery. He knew his way well, but he proceeded with caution, vigilant to any unexplained footfalls or shadows. His meeting tonight was solely with Mordecai and although every meeting with him was critical, he would soon be surprised by the dangers his kingdom was facing.
Mordecai was his dearest friend. They became close as children, but even then they knew better than to celebrate their bond openly.
As a child, Ahasuerus was considered nothing more than a palace brat, destined only for irresponsible behavior. There were five children. Ahasuerus was the youngest of three boys. His father, King Darius, pampered his two oldest sons and even his two daughters all of the time. He left Ahasuerus out of everything, except the palace parties and it was there that he gained a reputation as a kind of clown. Otherwise, Ahasuerus spent almost all of his time outside of the palace grounds.
Darius, his family, and his ministers and advisors, paid little heed to the comings and goings of Ahasuerus. Their only experience with the youngest son was at those parties and even as a youngster, they seduced him with wine. He took their offerings and many times played the fool. What they did not realize was that most of the drink they gave him went into the royal vases and that he was in complete control.
This was no accident.
As a boy, Ahasuerus would look longingly out of the windows of the castle. King Darius saw this as an opportunity to rid himself of this runt. He would ask Ahasuerus what he was looking at, but the only answer he got was “I am looking at the open spaces, I smell the market, I hear the people greet each other, argue with each other. They would argue so hard, stomp their feet, wave their arms, and turn red in the face, but when one would seem to win the argument, they would hug, smile, and walk off together. And I see them watching me. I want to be …. there.” With that Ahasuerus would make a sweeping gesture with his hand.
“He says he wants to be there”, Darius thought to himself. “Why not Ahasuerus?” the king said. “If you want to go out, do it. I will make sure no one will stand in your way or try to keep you here. You may go anywhere you want to go.”
At first Ahasuerus simply went outside, but the people he met instantly recognized him as a royal and they gave him a wide berth. They avoided looking directly at him. They whispered to each other and fearfully looked over their shoulders for the palace guards. Even at only seven years old, Ahasuerus knew that he would never get to be part of this new world if they knew he was a royal, even though he realized that no one, including the royal guards protected him.
The second time he went out, the people outside started to notice the lack of protection, but they were still cautious. They taunted the boy and watched to see if he turned to an unseen protector. Ahasuerus was now afraid, but still determined to learn more. He knew, or rather he sensed that somehow these people, so hostile to him now would be his salvation, at least some of them.
Ahasuerus turned to look toward the castle door and the people backed away, so he ran back into the castle. Inside, rather than returning to his quarters or looking to see if there was a party, he looked for another way to leave the castle. Before long, he noticed that the stables led directly to the streets of Shushan.
Ahasuerus was quick-witted and although he was apprehensive, he was patient. He did not go out again that day, but rather he hid himself in the stable area and for the three consecutive days he secretly watched. In that time he noticed several things. First, he noticed how the stable hands and their families were dressed differently from the royals and that they were inevitably not clean. The stable hands worked hard, often from before sunup to well after sundown. They lived at the stables, but not with their families. The wives and daughters of the men almost never visited, but their sons were there almost every day. These boys were expected to work with their fathers and learn to tend to the stable’s needs. At the end of the day, the stable boys left, often loaded with food and other goods for their families. He also heard them talk. They were loyal to the king, probably because they were allowed to share, covertly, with their families more than almost anyone else in the castle.
Ahasuerus noticed one other thing of great importance. While he left his hiding place only a couple times each day to get some bread and water to sustain himself in this project, he did not return to his quarters or anywhere else where the royals, especially the king, might see him. To his astonishment and relief, he was not missed. Indeed, they apparently took no notice of his absence. The stench of the stables was strong enough to mask him when he needed to relieve himself.
When he did return to the castle halls, he resumed his habit of looking, seemingly absent minded, out the window near his quarters. To those that now saw him, he appeared to confirm their vision of him. Actually, he was thinking about what to do next.
While he realized that his only exit from the castle was through the stables, he knew he could not do that without being observed by the stable hands. He would only be able to get out and do it safely by allying himself with them. He would have to gain their support through their trust.
His strategy was simple. He must get them to believe that he was really no different from them. He would not be pompous as he noticed royals were so often with servants. He would be generous in spirit to them and he knew that humility was the key. In the end, Ahasuerus understood that in order to be with the people in the kingdom, he would have to be of the people as well.
It had been two weeks since Ahasuerus last made his way to the stables. This time he went in through the main doors from the castle and simply walked in without expression, without announcement, without expectation. He had no particular plan. Looking around he saw the carriages and equipment; he saw the hay, oats and water; he saw the stalls with the horses nervously moving around, and he saw the men and the boys staring at him in wonderment.
Without knowing why, but without hesitation, Ahasuerus walked directly across the stable to the gate of the third stall, unlatched it, walked in, shutting the gate behind him. All of the men and boys stared frozen in their surprise and all except Samach just stood there mouths agape. Samach, the chief of the stable’s operations, stepped forward and calmly said to Ahasuerus, “Son, do not be afraid. Slowly, back up to the gate. If Paruah turns to look at you, do not look away, just slowly back up.”
Ahasuerus looked at Samach, their eyes met in understanding, but he did not move back. By this time, almost everyone in the stable was nervous and sure this could only lead to disaster. The boys were terrified. They had seen Paruah in his loftiness and heard the well earned tales of Paruah, the wild horse. The men were fidgeting and sweating, that is all of the men except Samach. He was serene as he watched Ahasuerus and he understood. There was only one explanation for what was happening. He knew that after today, none of their lives would be the same and he knew that their roles in these changes were key to that boy’s success and their own.
Ahasuerus turned again to face Paruah. The horse looked back at him, but neither were jumpy. Paruah turned toward Ahasuerus and Ahasuerus stepped forward. They reached each other and Paruah lowered his head and firmly nudged Ahasuerus. In turn, Ahasuerus reached for the horse. Paruah raised his head high, so Ahasuerus could only reach the enormous horse’s shoulder. He patted him there and scratched him gently and smiled. Paruah lowered his head again and was rewarded with a soothing scratch behind the ear.
The drama that was unfolding before them was overwhelming for some. One older stable hand, who was soaked in sweat, fainted.
Samach just stood in his place grinning. He was relaxed with his arms folded across his chest.
Ahasuerus could feel this man’s presence. He turned to face Samach and their eyes met again. Without saying a word, Samach told Ahasuerus that all was well and all would be well. Even the horse sensed that the two needed to be with one another. Lowering his head, Paruah pushed Ahasuerus toward the gate. As Ahasuerus walked out of the stall Samach walked up to him and put his hand gently on his shoulder, saying “Walk with me.”
He led him to a remote part of the stable and positioned a couple short stools. He sat down and invited Ahasuerus to sit next to him. “You are safe here and you are welcome here.” This was exactly what Ahasuerus needed to hear. He said, “I want to help you take care of the horses, especially that one.” pointing toward Paruah. Samach asked, “Why?” and Ahasuerus answered, “I don’t know; he wants me to be with him.”
“I will be happy to accept your offer of help, but you must understand certain things. First, you are not in charge. In fact, your status is the lowest of the low. You are a boy and you will be treated the same as any of the boys. You will accept the guidance of all of the men and the other boys and you will do as asked. Do not fear. I will be here and if I think that you are being mistreated, you will have my protection. Second, helping in the stables is not a hobby or a game. It is work, dirty, smelly, hard, and even sometimes dangerous work. You will learn how to handle all aspects of our lives in the stables. That is not limited to the care of the horses. It includes the care of the equipment and the food for the people as well as the horses. Third, you will be given new clothing that is appropriate for the work you will be doing in the stables. You must learn to care for this clothing. We cannot afford to be giving you new clothing all of the time. Cloth and thread are hard to get and not free. This clothing is only for you in the stables or outside if you go there and not for you to wear in the castle. In the castle, you are to change back to your royal clothing. Fifth, you will be eating the same food we eat. Sometimes it is the same thing every day for days on end. Get used to it. I don’t want to hear any complaints. Sixth, I know who you are Ahasuerus. I know what the royals say about you and I know what the house servants say about you. I also know that your reputation as a foolish boy is not deserved. It is, in fact, an act. You want to be seen as a fool, why, I don’t know.”
Ahasuerus gasped. His face turned red and he looked away from Samach. He was afraid and he softly trembled. In a firm voice Samach now shook Ahasuerus to his core. He said, “One more thing Ahasuerus. I know you were spying on us, watching our every move for a number of days.”
With this, Ahasuerus wanted to run away, but his feet got caught on the legs of the stool and he tripped. Samach was ready. He caught him quickly, gently, but firmly. His grip was reassuring to Ahasuerus and even though he was now very afraid, he did not struggle or try to get away. He told Ahasuerus to sit back down and he complied.
Samach continued, “I told you to not be afraid and that I will protect you. The reason I know about you is there are servants throughout the palace that I trust to keep me informed on what is going on there. They also let me know when anything unusual happens. They told me how the royals have given you drink and encouraged you to be frivolous. They also tell me that you pour most of the drink into the vases and that your glib manner is only pretend. They suspect that you want more than the royals can offer you, but they don’t know what it could be. When I was told that you were spying on us, I told the men and boys here to allow you to watch, not to take any action against you and not to report your actions to anyone else.
I know that you are destined to change many things in the kingdom and that we, in the stables, must be ready to help you.”
Samach paused for a very long time. He closed his eyes as if in prayer and when he opened them again, they glistened. Ahasuerus looked into Samach’s eyes and now his eyes glistened as well. Samach speaking in a voice so soft that Ahasuerus had to strain to hear, said, “You are a Prince of the kingdom. The kingdom is secure and even if you are not respected among the royals, not even the king, you can have anything you want. You would be taken care of lavishly if that is what you wanted, but it is obvious that is not your first choice.”
His look now turned stern and he said, “Ahasuerus you owe me some answers. I am not asking you. I am telling you. You must tell me the truth. Why were you spying on us? Why do you want to help us here in the stables? I know it is not because you want to spend the rest of your life taking care of horses and carriages. What is it?”
Ahasuerus was smart, but clearly not smart enough to fool Samach, or the palace staff. He knew that he could not lie. More than that, he did not want to lie to this man, so he told him what he had told his father, the king. Motioning toward the exit gate with his hand, he said, “I want to be out there.” That was not enough so he continued, “I want to be with them. I feel trapped in my room or in the banquet halls or even wandering the hallways. Nobody stops me and even though I feel at home, something is missing. I love my father, but even if he could, he cannot give me what I need.”
He gestured again toward the gate and repeated, “I want to be with them. There is something they have that I want, not to take from them, but to learn from them, something that is inside of them that I am missing.”
Samach sat back and looked into Ahesuerus’ eyes. The look they shared could only be described as trusting. There was no challenge, no pleading, no suspicion there.
Straightening, Samach said, “I will teach you all that I can. I will prepare you to make your way to the world out there. You are right, the people out there do have much to offer, but you must remember that you are a royal and you owe them everything.”
